Neil Davis and his Terrific turtles! National Geographic Kids Interview 25/07/10

Neil and Local volunteer Kanellos with Omiros

Sea turtles are some of the most endangered creatures on the planet. NG KIDS caught up with ‘Turtle Man’, Neil Davis, who works for ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, in Lakonikos, Greece…

NG Kids You help sea turtles for a living, Neil – sounds like a great job!
Neil It is, yes! We walk along Mavrovouni beach every morning, here, and look for loggerhead turtle nests. When we find eggs, we take measurements of how deep down they are in the sand and their distance from the sea, then we protect them with bamboo grids to stop foxes and stray dogs eating them.

NGK But when we visited a turtle sanctuary in Oman recently (see NG KIDS issue 50), we were told NOT to help the turtles…
Neil Well, we try to keep everything as natural as possible, but there are lots of stray dogs here in Greece and they’re not turtles’ natural predators. Foxes here are scavenging and taking turtle eggs, too - something they never used to do. It’s a new problem. If we didn’t protect the eggs, there’d be none left!

NGK Have you ever had to help an injured turtle?
Neil Yes. Sadly, some of the fishermen here in Greece aren’t nice to turtles. Over 50 sick or injured turtles are treated every year at ARCHELON’s rescue centre in Athens. If possible, we release them back into the wild. One blind turtle we rescued in 2007 was re-homed at the Blue Reef aquarium in Newquay, England.

OMIROS THE BLIND TURTLE GETTING READY FOR HIS FLIGHT TO THE UK

NGK What can NG KIDS’ readers do to help?
Neil Well, if your readers are on holiday here, they can try not to disturb the nesting sites and to not drop litter. Turtles sometimes eat plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish, and that can be very dangerous, so it’s really important that we keep our beaches clean.

Omiros at the rescue centre in Athens.

NGK Is that the same in the British Isles?

Neil Yes, you get a lot of sea turtles in the British Isles, too, especially in the summer, so make sure you put away your rubbish after a day at the seaside.

NGK Can NG KIDS readers help you in Greece, too?

Neil Yes! We have lots of people volunteering here, including families, and they absolutely love it! So anyone can come along!

To find out more about Neil’s work or to volunteer yourself, visit the ARCHELON website or the Volunteer With Turtles In Greece website!

Interview taken from National Geographic Kids Website http://ngkids.co.uk/cool_stories/1288/terrific_turtles_

Neil Davis and his Terrific turtles! National Geographic Kids Interview 25/07/10